The concept of a “new march” in the official interpretation of the history of the Communist Party of China

Abstract

Importance. The paper analyzes the concept of “new march” of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Recently, this phrase has been often mentioned in the speeches of leaders of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and has been actively promoted by party propaganda. The purpose of the research is to trace the development process of the expression “new march” in the ideological field of the PRC and to determine the key meaning of the concept. Materials and methods. To achieve the purpose, the speeches of PRC’s leaders in 1996, 2006 and 2016 on the occasion of the round anniversary of the end of the Long March of 1934–1936, which is associated with the ideology of the “new march”, are analyzed. With the qualitative and quantitative content analysis, common and special points for the three texts are highlighted. It is shown how the concept of the “new Long March” was filled with content. The origin of the term “new march” in official sources is also traced and the ideas that party theorists associate with this expression are highlighted. Result and Discussion. It’s finds out that the ideologeme mainly shifts focus from achievements of previous period of the country’s development to future successes of socialist construction in the “New Era” proclaimed by the current General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping. Conclusion. Emergence of the “new march” concept is indicative of some changes in how the CPC positions itself in Chinese history. Influence of this transformation on PRC’s ideology as a whole is subject to further research.